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National News Briefs; Many States Lack Funds For Monitoring Insurers

About three-quarters of Americans live in states whose insurance departments do not meet minimum standards of funding to oversee the insurance industry, the Consumer Federation of America said today as it released a nationwide survey.

Consumers in Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, Nevada, South Dakota, Tennessee and Utah are getting the least supervision of insurance companies, the survey found.

The District of Columbia, Florida, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon and Wyoming -- representing 17 percent of the population -- had the best-funded insurance departments, the survey found.

To meet that standard, as defined by Consumer Federation, a state's insurance department budget must equal at least 10 percent of the tax revenues collected by the state from insurance premiums paid by residents. About 2 percent or 3 percent of premium payments go to states.

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A version of this article appears in print on September 1, 2000, on Page A00018 of the National edition with the headline: National News Briefs; Many States Lack Funds For Monitoring Insurers. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe